Trixie, for the life of her, couldn't understand why the Tennysons thought it was a good idea to make a stop in New Orleans.
On the way into town, Trixie had looked up some facts about New Orleans and came up with a bunch of disturbing information about witches, voodoo priests, and zombies. Most of it was considered local legend and Hollywood propaganda, but given all the weird things they've seen over the summer, it wouldn't be a surprise if any of it was true. And then Ben had the nerve to suggest they visit the local witchcraft museum, if only to see Trixie scared…which she was.
The green-haired girl was staring anxiously at a display of tribal masks said to be worn by voodoo shamans during zombification rituals when Ben came up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulders. Natural, Trixie screamed like a frightened little girl, pulled out of Ben's hands, spun around, and slapped him across the face out of reflex.
"Ow!" Ben whined, rubbing his sore cheek. "Geez, you need to relax. You're way too tense."
"How could I not be when were surrounded by all this m…m…you know?" Trixie stammered. "I don't get how you humans can be so fascinated with something so illogical and unpredictable."
"Well, they're good for birthday parties," said Ben jokingly.
Trixie stared at her partner with a blank expression before marching angrily back to join the rest of the tour group, standing close to Grandpa Max for protection. The group was standing around a pedestal with a protective glass case securing a pristine, iron-bound book with a demonic symbol etched in the cover as the elderly tour guide explained the artifact.
"And behind this impenetrable glass is the recently discovered and only known existing copy Archamada Book of Spells – "
"It contains ancient witchcraft and rituals from the late sixteen hundreds," Gwen explained at the same time as the tour guide.
"Maybe you should work here, dear," said the tour guide irritably.
"Don't let mummy-face get to you," said Ben amusingly, playfully nudging his cousin. "She's probably older than that spell book."
That seemed to have done the trick as Gwen couldn't resist laughing, but her amusement was cut short when a long creak echoed through the museum and the building trembled. Before anyone realized what happened, Ben, Gwen, and everyone else in the museum was suddenly lifted off the ground and pinned to the ceiling as if someone had flipped the gravity.
"Something tells me this isn't part of the tour," grunted Max.
"What was your first clue!" screamed Trixie, who looked like she was about to have a heart attack.
From the window below them, a steady wave of red smoke slipped through the crack, circling the air, and stopping in front of the Arcamada Book of Spells. The smoke molded together as it approached the ground, becoming a man with a worryingly thin disposition and unnaturally pale skin underneath a black and red robe that was practically draped over his shoulders and a sash with five different charms across his chest. The man had a skull tattooed across his face and carried a wooden staff with a bird's skull on top and a metal ring sliding through the eyes.
"The Arcamada Book of Spells," said the strange wizard. "All of its powers shall soon be mine."
The wizard spoke in a foreign language as one of his charms glowed and the once impenetrable glass case was ripped apart by an unseen explosion; the glass shards flew outwards and nearly hit the Tennysons while missing the magician completely.
As the man wordlessly lifted the book out of the destroyed case with another spell, Ben went for the Omnitrix and pressed the button to activate the core. Unfortunately, the skull-faced magician caught him out of the corner of his eye and waved his staff (the bird's beak opened and a strange light glowed from it). Gravity corrected itself and sent everyone plummeting twenty feet from the air.
"Did I mention how much I hate magic?" Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs.
Ben finally got the Omnitrix to pop up and slammed down on the dial without even looking at which alien he picked. Fortunately, the Omnitrix decided to be merciful for a change and gave him Fasttrack.
The Citrakayah zipped to the ground before anyone else, raced over to the wall, grabs the corners of the large hanging banner, and tied against strong supports on the opposite side by the time the first bodies landed. Trixie, Gwen, Max, and the rest of the tourists hit the banner and slide to the ground safely.
"Everyone out!" shouted Fasttrack.
"Don't need to tell me twice!" shouted Trixie; she was the first one out the door.
"…Did she seriously bail on us?" said Fasttrack in disbelief. "I fought a zombie clown for her!"
"Ben, be careful," warned Max as he pulled Gwen to the exit. "You don't know what tricks he has up his sleeve."
"Dude, you want a book, try the library," Fasttrack taunted as he faced the magician.
"I am Hex, the most powerful sorcerer this world has ever known," proclaimed Hex. "I will not be hindered by some cat beast."
One of the talismans on his chest glowed and the wizard chanted in his unknown language as he swung his bird-headed staff across the air. The bird skull opened its beak and a geyser of flames shot out to burn the top corners of the banner. The flaming banner hits the ground and somehow came to life as it lunged the Citrakayah.
Fasttrack turned and raced to the wall where he proceeds to run up the surface while the banner slams below him. Hex turns his staff up and fired a barrage of red crystals at the speeding alien, but Fasttrack expertly swerves around the assault and bounced off the ceiling to land back on the ground.
Fasttrack tries to run at Hex directly, but the dark-cloaked magician waved his staff again and a flash of golden light blinded the Citrakayah, sending him sliding into one of the museum displays. Hex turned to the downed alien and raised his staff for the finishing blow when a pair of trashcans flew out of nowhere and hit him in the back; he staggered, but does not fall. Gritting his teeth in anger, Hex turned and leered at Max and Gwen (Trixie wasn't coming back any time soon).
"Guess we got his attention," said Gwen nervously.
"Kinda wished we hadn't," said Max.
Hex used a silent spell and threw the pair across the floor and turned back to Fasttrack…just as the Citrakayah zipped across the room and punched him across the face.
While the magician wobbled on his feet, Fasttrack circled Hex in a blur of motion, repeatedly wailing on the dark sorcerer without giving him time to counter. During one particular punch, however, one of the charms on Hex's chest fell off and was thrown out of reach.
Fasttrack created a blue tornado that he used to lift Hex off the ground and slammed him back down with enough force to break the floor, rendering the dark sorcerer motionless. Fasttrack smirked at Hex's downtrodden form before he spotted the dropped charm and took it when Max and Gwen came up to him.
"Nice job," Max complimented.
"Just doing what I need to do and keeping it low key," said Fasttrack.
Ten minutes later, Fasttrack stood outside the museum as a crowd of adoring fans cheered and took pictures of him while the emergency medical team loaded a strapped down Hex into the back of an ambulance.
"Who's your hero?" shouted Fasttrack arrogantly.
Gwen crosses her arms and looks away disdainfully.
Ben, Max, and Gwen returned to the Rust Bucket later that night after Ben had his literal ten minutes of glory (and found Trixie hiding out in a Mexican restaurant disguised as the mustachioed waiter named Enrique).
The first thing he did when they got back to the RV was pulled out his box of summer souvenirs he had collected during their travels: Dr. Animo's transmodulator, a bottle of Muriel's special vinegar, a piece of armor that had fallen off Sixsix, their photos of Sparksville, and the Sumo Slammers game that Trixie stole (and conveniently forgot to return). And now he had Hex's charm to add to his collection.
Although, Gwen wasn't in a particularly good mood.
"All I'm saying is that you didn't exactly stop that creep all by yourself today, okay?" Gwen complained across the table, much to Ben's irritation. "I helped save your sorry butt, but does anybody notice me?"
"Hey, being a hero is not about getting attention," said Ben.
As if perfectly timed, Trixie pulled up Gwen's laptop and replayed the video of Fasttrack waving to his fans and shouting "Who's your hero?"
"If it's any consolation, nobody noticed me either," said Trixie soothingly.
"That's because you ducked out the first chance you got," said Gwen bluntly.
"And I'm not afraid to admit it," Trixie retorted, sounding almost proud of her cowardice.
"Hey, no offense, but you threw a trash can at the guy," said Ben, trying to argue his point. "That doesn't exactly make you a hero, unlike me."
"Wake up, doofus," said Gwen evenly, looking close to having a meltdown. "The only reason you're a big hero is because of Trixie and the Omnitrix. If I had grabbed the watch instead of you, I'd be getting all the attention and all the cool souvenirs."
She pouted and turned to stare out the window.
"She does make a valid point," Trixie agreed. "It could have been either one of you who found the Omnitrix, or even Maxwell. Of course, that's a greater multiversal situation that I'd rather not get into."
Looking between the green-haired girl and his pouting cousin, Ben sighed as he took out the magic charm they had gotten off Hex and offered it to Gwen.
"All right, here, take it," said Ben.
"Really" asked Gwen, surprised by Ben's generosity.
"Yeah, I got tons of other stuff," said Ben nonchalantly.
Gwen didn't argue, accepting the magical charm with a feeling of giddiness inside her.
"Gwen, don't you have something you want to say to Ben?" said Max with a proud smile from the driver's seat.
"…You know this doesn't change the fact that you're just plain lucky," said Gwen dryly at first, but manages a small smile in the end. "But thanks."
"You're welcome," said Ben.
Meanwhile in the traveling ambulance, an EMT was monitoring Hex's vitals on a machine when one of the sorcerer's charms come to life and Hex's eyes fly open, staring distantly at the roof.
"My destiny shall be fulfilled," said Hex ominously.
The back of the ambulance was suddenly blown open by an unseen explosion and the driver brought the rescue vehicle to an immediate stop. The driver leaned closer to the side mirror and spotted Hex floating cross legged through the dense, mist-covered forest with his staff in hand, headed back to New Orleans.
The Tennyson party decided to stop for dinner tonight (only because Grandpa Max got outvoted) at a local restaurant…that was literally called Restaurant. Not the most imaginative of names, was it? Gwen also wanted an opportunity to show off the magic charm that she had converted into a necklace.
They had gorged themselves on gumbo, jambalaya, and New Orleans's famous crawfish platters, most of which went to Trixie, who compared the crustaceans to food found on Piscciss. By the end of the meal, there was only one crawfish left…and Ben and Gwen exchanged looks in a classic western showdown.
"I've been counting," argued Gwen, not noticing that her charm was suddenly glowing. "You've had eleven crawfish to my nine."
"Sounds like it's time to make it an even dozen," said Ben confidently as he raised his fork.
He takes a stab at the crawfish, only for Gwen to karate chop the fork right out of his hand.
"I don't think so," said Gwen challengingly.
Without either of them realizing it, Ben's fork flew across the room and stabbed a passing waitress in the ankle, causing her to jump at the sharp pain and send the glasses she was carrying flying into the air. One of the glasses lodged itself in the crevice of a chandelier, doing a full rotation, before flying into the open window of the kitchen and hitting one of the chefs in the back. The chef jumped and unconsciously backstepped into a cart carrying a bowl of live crawfish and sent it out the door. The cart slid all the way to the Tennyson table and flipped the bowl of crawfish on Ben's head. While the boy slumped in his seat, Gwen took the opportunity to collect the last crawfish and eat it with a smug expression.
"Okay, now I'm full," said Gwen.
"But they're not," groaned Ben as one of the live crawfish start to slither up his nostril.
Ben cried and fell over onto the floor, much to the amusement of Max, Gwen, and Trixie. But in the middle of her laughter, Gwen looked down and noticed the glow of her new necklace just before the light faded. The redhead clenched the charm in her hand, shooting a worried look and hoping no one had noticed.
Meanwhile, Hex returned to the witchcraft museum hell bent on finishing what he had started. He effortlessly handled the only guard left in the building, plastering him to the wall, while he tore his way through the museum.
He tossed many books and priceless artifacts aside with his magic, but his impatience grew with every second that he did not find what he is looking for. Hex momentarily considers burning down the museum just to brush away the rubbish and find the real prize, but he was a man of tact – not a common criminal. Instead, he turned back to the hanging guard, drew him closer with a levitation spell and leered with his yellowish voodoo eyes.
"The Arcamada Book of Spells!" demanded Hex.
"We uh…locked it in the vault," said the guard nervously, even pointing to the safe.
Hex walked towards the vault – leaving the guard hanging with the blood rushing to his head – and brush aside everything in his path. With a single incantation from the wizard, the metal vault bent and crunched until it was ripped from the wall, carelessly tossed over Hex's head into more priceless artifacts. The dark sorcerer raised his hand and drew the Arcamada Book of Spells from the smoke, flipping open the pages with a twitch of his fingers.
"Yes…," said Hex in a low, gratifying voice. "Soon my power will know no limits!"
He raises his fists to the heavens as he began to draw upon the divine magics of the Book of Spells…only for the Book's magic to reject him and return to its pages, snapping shut in Hex's skeleton face. Bewildered and confused, Hex looked down and realized the problem.
"One charm is missing…," he muttered in annoyance. "Of course, the battle with that speed creature. Well, this problem shall be reprimanded soon enough."
After dinner and a show, the Tennyson party headed out to the market street where they sold many New Orleans' specialties (and some things that probably should be considered illegal).
"You know, in all my travels, I never actually saw a crawfish climb in someone's nostril until today," Max laughed, playfully messing with his grandson's hair.
"Glad I could make your day, grandpa," said Ben with a grimace.
"By the way, thanks again for the charm," Gwen joined in. "I feel like I should get your something in return."
"Well, that's nice of you," said Trixie, turning her head to Ben and elbowing him. "Isn't that nice, Benjamin?"
"Yeah, yeah," said Ben uncaringly.
Gwen spots a nearby hotdog cart and paced over – everybody knows Ben loved food made from questionable and highly unsanitary meats. But before she could order anything, there was a sharp cry across the road.
"Help! They stole my purse!"
It was cliché, but a group of three teenage thugs had for some reason thought it would be a good idea to steal an old lady's purse (which was really stupid in retrospect since nobody carried paper money these days). And of course, Grandpa Max was the first one out in front of the lowly street punks, holding his hand up to stop them.
"That's far enough," said Max seriously.
"Yeah, who's gonna make us? You, pops?" said the street punk conceitedly.
"Actually, him and a close personal friend, Diamondhead," muttered Ben. He ducked behind the hotdog cart as the street punks pulled out rusty pipe weapons, pounding the button furiously on his watch when the core refused to raise up. "Come on, come on, work!"
"The Omnitrix is still recharging from your battle against Hex," said Trixie, ducking down to meet Ben. "It's never been tested against magic before, so there's a good chance that Hex's spells might have affected the calibration matrix and the loading timer."
"Now you tell me!" snapped Ben.
"Well, excuse me if I don't make an effort to go looking for creepy dark sorcerers!" retorted Trixie.
"Hey, that's a nice necklace you got there, little girl," said the street punk, taking an interest in Gwen's charm.
Gwen tentatively backed away while Max stepped in between the street punks and his granddaughter.
Ben continued to fumble with the Omnitrix without getting any results and Trixie prepared to step out into the open as she draws upon the Pyronite DNA. But before anyone could make a move, Gwen's charm lit up just as it did back in the restaurant. Gwen seemed to be the only one who noticed the charm's glow when Ben suddenly jumped out, given up on the Omnitrix, and pushed Gwen out of the way for her own safety.
Incidentally, Gwen stumbled back into a juggler riding on a unicycle, knocking the man off his one-wheeled vehicle and sending the unicycle flying into the face of one of the street punks when the pins smacked the head of the leader. While the leader was disoriented, Max came up from behind and trapped him in a headlock. This left only one of the street punks left and he looked like the biggest and the stupidest as he leered down at Ben.
Trixie ran out to join her partner when she accidentally stepped on a fallen mustard bottle and unknowingly squirted it into the hotdog vendor's eye. The vendor cried out and accidentally kicks his cart, causing it to fly by past Trixie and Ben and slam into the third punk. And just as his friend was knocked out by the runaway cart, the first thug that had been beaten earlier started to sit up when a precariously placed potted plant on a balcony railing suddenly tipped over for no reason and smashed over his head, knocking him out again.
The incident was over just as quickly as it started, but that didn't make it any less confusing. Ben and Trixie were literally scratching their heads while Gwen looked down at her charm just as it lost its glow.
"Huh, cool," said Gwen.
"This little girl is a hero, officer," the robbed old lady told the policewoman that only now showed up.
"Who? Me?" asked Gwen, surprised that she was being credited for a change. "Just lucky, I guess."
As the policewomen started to arrest the street punks, Gwen tilted her head and peered through the crowd to a stand selling masks.
She subtly smiles – an idea was forming.
The next morning, the Rust Bucket was parked near a construction site, but that wasn't the reason why Ben was having a difficult time trying to sleep in; it was his grandfather's snoring. The jackhammers, cement mixers, and loud machinery Ben could deal with, but Grandpa Max's snoring was somehow louder than all of them put together.
Ben tried blocking his ears with pillows, but the snoring was coming through. He contemplated on stealing Trixie's earplugs for a moment, but he didn't want a repeat of New Jersey (he still hasn't gotten rid of the smell). Groaning, Ben flipped over on his bunk and calls down to his cousin.
"Hey, Gwen, you got a mega-sized cork on you?" asked Ben irritably. Surprisingly enough, he didn't get a snappy retort. "Gwen?"
When Ben leaned down to check on her, he found Gwen's bunk to be empty. He wondered where she might have gone when he heard something amidst all the snoring and construction work: it was a ball bouncing.
Gwen was at the nearby basketball court, dribbling the ball while her charm was consciously activated. She paused for a moment before throwing the ball in the net behind her without looking. As one would expect, the ball missed the basket completely and rolled across the Rust Bucket roof, bouncing off the antenna, rebounding off a power pole, sliding across the wire, and seamlessly falling into the hoop.
"Nothing but the bottom of the net again," said Gwen proudly.
"Okay, we are definitely not playing horse," said Ben with a surprised tone as he picked up the ball.
"Give me the ball," Gwen demanded, reaching for it.
"Not till you tell me how you did that," said Ben, keeping the ball out of her reach.
"What can I say? I'm charmed." Gwen returned smugly, referring to her necklace. "It's like every time it glows, everything just goes my way."
"Well, don't go telling Trixie about it," said Ben. "She might actually have a stroke."
"Who would have a stroke?" asked Trixie as she and Max stepped out of the Rust Bucket.
"Nothing!" said Ben and Gwen quickly in unison.
Trixie raised her brow suspiciously – since when did those two agree on something? But the Tennyson cousins were fortunately saved from an interrogation when an explosion went off at the nearby construction site (which was an oddity itself considering they didn't have anything that could cause an explosion).
From their position on the ground, the Tennyson party could see two workers dangling from a lift several stories off the ground when one of the cables snapped. Ben's hand immediately flew to the button on his watch, thankfully able to activate the core this time.
"Time to watch a real hero at work," said Ben; he just wouldn't let last night go.
"Yeah, me," said Gwen as her charm started glowing again. "I'll be right back."
As Gwen ran back to the RV, Ben turned to Trixie looking for an explanation, but the green-haired girl just shrugs her shoulders.
The screams from the dangling workers made Ben decide it wasn't worth pondering and slammed down the core before he even realized what he had selected. By a stroke of good luck, Ben ended up turning into Jetray when the light died down. Trixie and Max stepped back when the Aerophibian blasted into the air when they heard another scream coming from nearby.
"Help! Somebody! Over here!"
There was a man trapped inside his truck, nearly crushed to death by a giant metal bar that had smashed on the roof. Trixie started to run over and summoned the DNA of the Petrosapien in her right hand when someone suddenly jumped in front, blocking her off.
Wearing a purple jumpsuit with a similarly colored sash and a decorative cat mask, it didn't take much thought to figure out who had that particularly bright shade of red hair or that magical charm around her neck.
"Gwendolyn?" said Trixie strangely, tilting her head in confusion.
"It's Lucky Girl, Trixie," said Gwen, I mean Lucky Girl. Trixie's face seemed permanently slapped with a dumbfounded look, which was probably the reason why she did nothing as Lucky Girl ran past her to the damaged truck. "Stay calm! I'm gonna get you out of there!"
Lucky Girl started looking around for something she could use to help when her eyes fell on a set of uncut wooden planks thrown over a pair of work tables. Lucky Girl hatched a plan, or rather subconsciously activated the magic inside her lucky charm.
Lucky Girl ran at the benches and jumped on the end of one of the planks, sending the others flying in the air behind her. One of the planks smashed through the window of a demolition crane, bounced off the seat, and hit one of the levers. The crane's wrecking ball drops from above, hitting one end of the metal bar, and flings it away, allowing the worker to safely exit the truck. But in the process, the metal bar smashed the button to the elevator and sent it flying towards the top.
Meanwhile, Jetray flew through the air and hovered a few feet away from the terrified workings dangling from the lift.
"Just hold on," Jetray told them calmly. "I'm gonna get you – wait, what's that noise?"
The Aerophibian looks down just moments before the elevator smacks him from below, carrying him to the top floor until it came to a sudden stop and launched him through the air. Jetray, disoriented from the unexpected attack, fell freely through the air, smashing the bit of the construction work and causing debris to fall towards Lucky Girl.
"Gwen – I mean, Lucky Girl – move!" Max warned her.
Lucky Girl heeded the advice and run away from the falling debris, tap dancing around the wreckage until she wound up near the cement mixer and threw herself inside. Once again, she unwitting sets off another chain of events, this time releasing the truck's breaks, causing it to roll back and smack against a giant metal chute. And on the opposite end of karma, Jetray, who was still a little disoriented as he clung to a piece of rope for dear life, he was smacked upside the head by the chute and catapulted off the building…right into the cement mixer. The aerophibian splashed and sputtered and he tried swimming out of the swirling cement – good thing he didn't pick Heatblast. And at the same time, the metal chute leaned against the building directly underneath the dangling workers.
"Slide down the chute!" yelled Max.
The dangling workers listened and fell inside the metal chute, sliding down to a set of cushioned protectors that the workers laid out underneath at the last minute. The workers looked immensely relieved. Unfortunately, Jetray did not share the feeling.
The aerophibian frowned as he tried wiping off the wet cement clinging to his thin skin when he noticed that a large crowd had surrounded Lucky Girl, including a camera crew and a news reporter.
"How did you manage to pull off this amazing rescue?" the reporter asked Lucky Girl.
"With style, of course," said Lucky Girl smugly, waving at the camera. "Who's your hero?"
"You heard it here first, live," said the reporter, turning to the camera.
"Lucky Girl…," Jetray grumbled under his breath. "Just a cheap show off…."
Back in town, Hex floated – literally floated – his way through downtown New Orleans without anyone batting an eye at the strangeness; suppose they were just used to it by now. He was vehemently searching for his missing charm when he heard the news report blaring from the televisions of a nearby electronics shop.
"An exclusive on the scene interview with our city's very own – "
"Lucky Girl!" her voice echoed across the multiple screens.
Hex drowned out the pointless chatter of Lucky Girl's interview and focused all his attention on the familiar charm dangling around her neck. His charm.
The Tennyson party was on the move again as Max drove the Rust Bucket through the streets of New Orleans, not really having a destination in mind and really just looking for something to do.
Trixie, for obvious reasons, was keeping her distance from Gwen once she figured out that the lucky charm was filled with magic. Whenever Gwen entered one area of the Rust Bucket, Trixie would immediately make an excuse to be anywhere else. Gwen would feel insulted if she wasn't riding a fame high from this afternoon's TV interview. Instead, she immediately went to her laptop and started pulling up everything she found about her charm, much to Ben's annoyance.
"I cross-referenced the Arcamada Book of Spells with dark magical charms and look," said Gwen, turning the laptop to show everyone. "It's part of a set called the Charms of Bezel. The charm I'm wearing is for luck. There are also charms for fire, levitation, and reincarnation."
"Whoa, those are the charms Hex wore at the museum when Fasttrack kicked his butt," said Ben in recognition.
"That's why he wanted the Book of Spells," said Gwen thoughtfully. "But it says all the Charms of Bezel must be used for the spells to be at their full power. Oh well, his loss is my gain."
"I'm afraid more like 'was'," said Max. "We need to turn that charm into the museum."
"No fair!" Ben and Gwen complained in surprised unison. "Not before I – "
" – try it," said Ben.
" – use it again," said Gwen. "The world needs someone with the power of Lucky Girl."
"News flash! I'm the only one with powers!" stated Ben harshly.
"Well, you can make that one a two now!" said Gwen, standing up to Ben at full height with a fierce glare.
"All that stuff you did, it's not you, it's that charm," retorted Ben.
"It's not you either!" Gwen snapped. "Trixie's the one with the real powers. You're just borrowing them with that watch!"
"You're just jealous of me!" yelled Ben.
"Am not!" Gwen called back.
"Are too – times ten!" howled Ben.
"All right, that's enough out of you two!" snapped Max with some mild irritation. "You two both need a time out! Both of you go to your corners!"
Yes, Ben and Gwen had their own respective time out corners, something Grandpa Max had arranged within the first week of summer when an argument between Ben and Gwen burned a minimart to the ground.
The Tennyson cousins exchanged final glances before turning with a huff and walked away. Ben went to the back of the Rust Bucket and sat on his bunk, which was also occupied by Trixie in an attempt to put space between her and the magic charm. The green-haired girl only looked up from her book briefly as Ben flopped down with his arms crossed and his lips in a pout. Trixie said nothing to him and went back to reading her book until Ben spoke up.
"Can you believe her?" Ben complained. "She's so selfish. That charm should be mine – I'm the superhero, not her. You agree with me, right?"
"I know you don't want to hear this," said Trixie, not looking up from her book, "but I'm on Gwendolyn's side."
"What?" Ben sputtered, flabbergasted. "Why?"
"Benjamin…," Trixie heaved a heavy sigh, marking her page and setting her book aside. "Look, this has nothing to do with Gwen being selfish or trying to spite you. It's just…you have been blessed with the chance to wield the most powerful weapon in the galaxy – a one-in-a-million chance that could have happened to just about anyone. Every day you're out there saving lives, fighting villains, and earing the admiration of people. And the whole time, no matter what Gwendolyn does to help, she will always be in your shadow. She's not selfish, Benjamin, she just feels unappreciated."
"Hey, I appreciate her," said Ben, though not as harsh as before.
"Do you though?" asked Trixie. "You probably don't notice it yourself, but you always treat her like a sidekick instead of a partner. Just last night, you took all the credit for Hex's capture and didn't even thank Gwendolyn or Maxwell after they helped you. This Lucky Girl thing, even if I don't particularly like it, it's the only way for Gwendolyn to feel like she's actually doing something. It makes her feel like…like she matters. Do you understand?"
"…I guess," Ben mumbled, feeling rather guilty now. He didn't realize that Gwen felt so left out. Sure, they didn't get along all that often, but he still cared about her…in his own little way.
"And in the news of the weird," the Rust Bucket's radio carried through the RV, drawing everyone's attention, "reports are coming in of the famed haunted history mansion has come alive, trapping dozens of visitors inside."
"Grandpa/Maxwell!" Ben, Gwen, and Trixie yelled from their respective places.
"On it!" Max replied, slamming his foot on the accelerator.
The Tennysons made good time arriving at the Haunted History Mansion in a matter of minutes (convenient how things work out that way). Ben is the first one out of the Rust Bucket, looking around cautiously for signs of troubles as he reached for the Omnitrix. However, Gwen, in full Lucky Girl attire, shoved him out of the way.
"Back off!" Lucky Girl snaps. "I'll handle this!"
"Gwen, don't go running off like – " Ben tried to warn her, but she was already heading up the stairs, earning a groan from him. "Ugh, is this what it's like to deal with me all the time?"
"For the most part," said Trixie, leaning out the door. "Well, good luck in there. If you need me, I'll be hiding inside, away from all the freaky magic stuff."
And with that, the green-haired girl slammed the door. Ben and Max exchanged bewildered looks before chasing after Lucky Girl, who was recklessly running headlong into the haunted mansion.
Ben and Max caught up to Lucky Girl as they make their way inside, ducking past the horde of screaming tourists running away. Just as the report had said on the radio, the mansion seemed to have come to life; the chandeliers swerved dangerous in circles on the ceiling, the staircase was rattling and shifting between steps, and the railing of the second floor was tilting back and forth, threatening to throw off the group of tourists hanging on for dear life.
Ben, Max, and Lucky Girl were distracted by the endangered people that they failed to realize the man who conjured this house of horrors was waiting calmly behind the tattered curtains above, leaning against his staff with a knowing smirk on his skull-like face.
"I knew you couldn't resist, Lucky Girl," said Hex with a soft chuckle.
Hex's staff glowed with life as his silent incantation continued to animate the haunted mansion. The second-floor balcony lurched forward again, throwing the people against the railing and nearly sending a woman over had she not been grabbed by her husband at the last second. Ben once again reached for the Omnitrix, but Gwen noticed this and shoves him out of the way again, distracting him from the watch.
"Everyone stay calm!" Lucky Girl called to the tourists. "Lucky Girl is in the haunted house!"
The masked luck maker made a run for the staircase, doubtlessly running up to the second floor to save them, but Hex had other ideas.
He once again cast a silent spell and one of his Charms of Bezel glowed. Halfway up the staircase, the wooden planks of the steps ripped apart and flew across the room, but only a second too late because Lucky Girl had already run past. Unfortunately, the planks were sent flying towards Max and Ben, who jumped away at the last second before the boards smashed against the wall. Ben ducked behind one of the support beams, finally in a safe place to activate the Omnitrix's core.
"You can't count on luck forever," said Ben. "You also need a little skill."
While Ben transformed out of sight, Lucky Girl almost made it to the second-floor landing when the entire staircase and the balcony were ripped out of the wall and floor by Hex's magic. Hex whipped Lucky Girl and the tourists around the air with his staff until the masked charmer lost her grip on the railing and is thrown off. Lucky Girl's charm activated again and the masked heroine flipped around the air to land safely on a high pillar, but was unfortunately stranded in the middle of the room as well.
Hex moved the balcony to the middle of the room and tipped it sideways, causing one of the tourists to slip and fall off; Max rushes underneath the woman and cauggt her before carrying her away to safety. But just as the rest of the tourists were about to lose their grips, the balcony is suddenly tilted backwards into a straight up position, allowing the tourists to safely put their feet back on the floor.
Lucky Girl was perplexed and looks down from her perch. A pair of molten-yellow hands was gripping the support beam of the balcony, causing the wood to hiss at their touch, while Heatblast leaned his fiery head to look up at Lucky Girl.
"A little help here, Lucky Girl," Heatblast grunted. "This isn't exactly my strongest alien, ya know."
"Oh, so now you need my help?" said Lucky Girl spitefully. "I thought you said I wasn't a hero, remember?"
"Look, I'm sorry, all right?" Heatblast apologized, his voice becoming more strained. "I shouldn't have said that…but right now isn't the time for arguing. Someone needs to help these people and I'm a little busy holding this thing up. So, if you don't mind – "
"On it," Lucky Girl agreed.
Lucky Girl looked around for anything to help and noticed the hanging chandelier only a few feet away. She took a deep breath…then leaned back to tilt the pillar before leaning forward again and throwing herself into the air. She barely managed to grab the bars, swinging towards the section of the balcony, and threw up her feet, barely catching herself on the edge next to the hostages.
"Everybody grab hold!" Lucky Girl instructed.
The tourists didn't need to be told twice; they practically threw themselves at the chandelier, grabbing the metal bars like Lucky Girl, and swung back to the center of the room. Meanwhile, Hex swung his staff across the air and threw the balcony section away, which simultaneously tossed Heatblast across the room into a wall that barely missed the woman that Grandpa Max had saved earlier.
Lucky Girl looked down at her cousin in concern, but she had more pressing matters to worry about, namely the weight of everyone ripping the chandelier out of the ceiling and causing it to drop fifteen feet to the ground. Thankfully, Lucky Girl's magic charm was still in effect and the chandelier's wire went taut, stopping their descent just a few feet short of the ground. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize that they weren't splattered all over the floor and the tourists made a dash for the exit…which immediately slammed shut behind them.
Lucky Girl felt a sharp tingling sensation caressing her hands and looked down to see a strange energy field covering them. She yelped as the energy pulled at her by the wrists, carrying her through the air until she floated helplessly in front of Hex, who finally decided to come out of hiding. With a loathsome grimace, Hex tossed the heroine aside and levitates after her.
"Give me my charm!" Hex demanded.
Once again, Lucky Girl's charm turned the situation into her advantage as the masked heroine hits a large hanging curtain and pulled it down with her as she lands on her feet. Lucky Girl ran out of the way as Hex landed on the ground and the curtain covered him while simultaneously knocking over a suit of armor that crashed on his head.
"You should have said please," said Lucky Girl smugly.
A flash of yellow energy exploded underneath the curtain that sent the armor flying across the room and tore the fabric apart, displaying Hex at full height, completely unharmed. Lucky Girl made an audible gulping noise before pivoting on her heel and running down the closest hallway as Hex slowly turned her way with an unamused expression.
Lucky Girl turned left at the end of the hallway and ran into a lavish study complete with a roaring fire and a stereotypical rich person bust. But the one thing it lacked that Lucky Girl sorely needed right now was an exit, especially with Hex right on her tail.
"Oh, now what?" groaned Lucky Girl, resting her hand on the bust. Once again, the charm's magic guided her into pulling back the bust's head and revealing a hidden button. "Wow, that is so Adam West Batman. They have Bat-Shark Repellent around here too?"
All joking aside, she pushed the button when she heard the flapping of Hex's robing coming from the hallway behind her. The secret switch revealed a hidden panel behind the opposite wall, opening up an entrance into what looked to be an abandoned cave system (yeah, this was totally like Batman's place, thought Lucky Girl). The tunnel was pitch black and there was a lot of dripping noises, but Lucky Girl decided she would rather take her chances with a dark spooky cave than go head-to-head with Hex.
Speaking of whom, the dark sorcerer had little trouble figuring out where Lucky Girl had run off to – she had left the secret passage way open behind her. Hex smirked confidently as he floated down the damp caverns after his prey.
The secret caverns lead into a series of wide catacombs that were still…occupied from some of its former residents.
Lucky Girl fought back the urge to bile as she ran through hallway after hallway of open crypts housing the crumbling corpses of hundreds of people that had probably been here since the 1800s. And the fact that their bones were being…used…by snakes, rats, spiders, and various other creatures of the darkness didn't make her stomach feel any less queasy. Lucky Girl didn't know how long she had been running, but she couldn't see or hear Hex anywhere behind her, so she assumed that meant she was safe for the moment and stopped to catch her breath.
Unfortunately, she realized too late that the reason why Hex wasn't behind her…was because he right beside her, on the other side of the wall.
Hex sensed her immediately and started casting a spell to blast Lucky Girl apart when her charm once again shifted the odds in her favor.
Lucky Girl unconsciously leaned against one of the rocks in the wall and unwittingly pushed it out of place, landing right at Hex's feet. The dark sorcerer stared at the stone curiously until he felt the cavern rumble and looked up as the tunnel starts to collapse on top of him, burying him under stone and concrete. Lucky Girl barely managed to avoid a similar fate by hopping in to one of the crypts, not realizing that she was lying directly next to one of the rotten skeletons until after the rumbling had subsided. The masked heroine screamed and hopped out like the frightened little girl she was.
Lucky Girl brushed herself, somehow hoping to get corpse germs off of her, when she noticed that a section of the tunnel hadn't fully collapsed. Hex had cast a spell creating a shield around him, holding the fallen stones at bay. Hex raised his head and sneered at Lucky Girl, who decided the best course of action was to run away.
Lucky Girl turned the corner and rushed down the corridor when Hex came floating, releasing a blast of magical energy from his staff. Once again, the lucky charm saved Lucky Girl's life by causing her to trip on an uprooted rock, making her fall to the ground while the magical blast flew over her head. By a stroke of good fortune, the magical energy blasted open a hole in the wall that led to the outside through which Lucky Girl could escape. But on the unfortunate side of things…the path led to a graveyard.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Lucky Girl complained.
She could hear Hex's cloak flapping close by, so Lucky Girl immediately ran into the graveyard past the rows of tombs and crypts and quickly ducked behind one of the thickest trees in the cemetery.
Lucky Girl took a deep, calming breath before cautiously peeking around the trunk. Hex was walking through the graveyard like he was taking a sunny stroll through the park, his cloak flapping in the wind and the shadows of the trees partially concealing his figure, making him resemble something like the Grim Reaper. He was walking straight towards her – he must have sensed her or maybe the charm. She knew she had to run away…so why couldn't she move her feet?
Before Lucky Girl realized what was happening, the tree's branches suddenly came to life and lifted her off the ground by her feet, dangling her while more branches slithered around her body to form a cocoon. One of the branches slithered around her neck and ripped the lucky charm from her neck.
"No!" cried Lucky Girl.
The branch tossed the lucky charm and Hex snatched it out of the air. The skull-faced magician leered at her one last time before the branches sealed her completely….
Lucky Girl doesn't know how long she had been trapped inside the wooden cocoon – she must have been knocked out some time after being sealed inside because the next time she opened her eyes, she found Heatblast burning off the branches with Grandpa Max beside him.
"Oh, thanks," said Lucky Girl gratefully as Heatblast burned the rest of the branches.
"Where's Hex?" asked Heatblast.
Grandpa Max surveyed the area and spotted the dark magician not too far from where he had tied up Lucky Girl, levitating in the middle of the graveyard with the Charms of Bezel on his breast and the Arcamada Book of Spells opened in front of him. A sinister smile stretched across Hex's lips as he felt the rush of magical energy flowing through his body.
"Time to turn this city into an old memory!" said Hex wickedly.
Hex chanted a single incantation from the Book of Spells and the effects of his magic were immediately felt across New Orleans. A swirling vortex of darkness appeared in the sky and lightning shot down from the clouds, striking the Earth like the wrath of the gods. Cars exploded, rooftops were ripped apart, the wind carried destruction, and those unfortunate enough to be wandering the streets at night were pulled into the air towards the swirling vortex above. Only a few minutes with the spell and Hex had already brought New Orleans to a state of fear – he couldn't wait to try out the rest of the book.
But before Hex could cast a new incantation, Heatblast shot through the sky like a rocket and tackled Hex into one of the mausoleums. Without the nightmarish wizard to control the spell, Hex's enchantment quickly evaporated. The clouds dissipated, the winds died down, and the people who were dragged off fell to the ground…and shattered more than a few bones.
Lucky Girl and Max rushed down the staircase to where Heatblast was fighting, but the Pyronite threw up his hand as a warning.
"Stay back!" said Heatblast.
Hex recovered from the surprise attack and stood atop another mausoleum, one decorated in large stone statues; his staff and charms all glowed with magical energy.
"You dare challenge me?" Hex questioned in annoyance. "You shall suffer for your arrogance."
The dark sorcerer chanted in his unique language and summoned a crimson mist from the mouth of his staff, drifting through the two gargoyle statues on either side of him and the massive Minotaur statue below. The crimson mist wafted through their mouths and nostrils and their eyes suddenly glowed red with life, turning their heads and shaking their shoulders with the cringing sound of stone rubbing against stone, all three of the monsters glaring at Heatblast. The gargoyles flapped their wings and took flight with the Minotaur walked directly towards the Pyronite, its footsteps causing the ground to rumble beneath its hooves.
The smaller of the two gargoyles flew up to Heatblast's face and the Pyronite swung his arm at it, but the stone monster flapped out of the way then swiped its claws across Heatblast's face and cuts deep across the stone that makes up his head. Heatblast punched the smaller gargoyle aside when its bigger relative flew down and whips its tail at Heatblast's chest, throwing him on his back across one of the tombs. The large gargoyle climbed on top and Heatblast struggled to hold the monster back by its shoulders, but the gargoyle leaned forward and snapped it powerful jaws on his neck.
"Get off me, you granite freak!" yelled Heatblast.
The Pyronite blasted the gargoyle in the chest at point blank range and sendt the stone monster flying across the cemetery. Heatblast groans painfully as he slowly stood up when the Minotaur blindsided him from the right. The stone Minotaur carried Heatblast across the yard and smashed him through the wall of a crypt, bringing the whole building crashing down on top of their heads.
Believing he had succeeded, Hex raised his staff and started to perform the incantation again, summoning a swirling vortex to blot out the moonlit sky and spark lightning across the clouds. But once again, he is hindered when someone threws a rock at his shin, causing Hex to drop his staff on instinct. Hex ground his teeth in irritation; he wasn't surprised in the least to see Lucky Girl and Max below.
"Luck only takes you so far, Hex," said Lucky Girl, tossing a rock up and down in her hand. "You also need skills to back it up."
She threw the rock and landed a clean shot between Hex's eyes, knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall over and hit the ground.
But even with the caster knocked out, Hex's magic continued to persist in the stone creatures. The smaller gargoyle minion noticed its master lying on the ground, spotted Lucky Girl and Max a few feet away, and came to the idea that it must attack them.
Lucky Girl immediately took off, but Max shows an impressive display of physical fitness as he lifted a steel pipe attached to a cement block over his shoulder, waiting until the gargoyle was close enough before taking a swing at it. Like his granddaughter, Max nailed a clean shot on the gargoyle and smashed it to pieces.
"I knew I should have gone for the major leagues," Max quipped amusingly.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur statue is thrown back by a massive fireball, nearly smashing into its remaining gargoyle ally and crashing through a small church in the middle of the graveyard, bringing the building down on top of it.
The Gargoyle looked perplexed, turning back to the fight as Heatblast emerged from the rubble with a stone sword resting on his shoulder. Heatblast used his Pyronite powers to infuse the weapon with his body's natural rock composition, transforming it into a flaming magma sword.
"Neat trick, right?" said Heatblast, chuckling amusingly.
The large gargoyle snarled and jumped at Heatblast while the Minotaur statue emerged from the ruins of the destroyed church. The Pyronite waited patiently until the gargoyle was close enough before swinging his magma sword, slicing through the monster clean in half. He could feel the rumbling of the Minotaur's footsteps from behind and sharply pivoted his foot, turning to face the beast, and then stabbed his magma sword through the statue's chest.
The Minotaur stopped in its tracks, making noises like it could actually feel the burning pain, before Heatblast lifted the magma sword up the Minotaur's chest and through its horned head, slicing it evenly down the middle. Heatblast stood back as the monster crumbled to dust at his feet, looked at his magma sword thoughtfully for a moment…and then threw it away – not like grandpa would let him keep it in the Rust Bucket anyway.
With Hex and his minions out of commission, Lucky Girl took Hex's charms off his chest just as the dark sorcerer starts to recover. He blinked owlishly as he looks up, noticing that the mask heroine had taken his sash, and reaches out to her with an angry roar. Heatblast grabbed Hex's wrist before he could touch the redhead and lifted him off the ground.
"Time for the magician to disappear," said Heatblast.
Heatblast threw him into a wall where he slumps into an empty stone coffin. Before he had a chance to recover, Max quickly slid the lid into place, sealing him inside.
With the bad guy beaten, they only had one piece of business left. Heatblast and Max turn to Lucky Girl, who was still holding the Charms of Bezel.
"I could fly, shoot out bolts of electricity, bring trees alive – I'd be unstoppable!" said Lucky Girl enthusiastically…before throwing the charms to Heatblast. "Or I could just be me. Go on, Ben, destroy them."
"You sure?" asked Heatblast with some concern.
"It's better than letting them fall into the wrong hands again," said Lucky Girl sagely.
Heatblast seems to hesitate for a moment, as he holds the Charms of Bezel in his massive hands. But, ultimately, he concedes to Lucky Girl's wishes. He tossed the sash high into the air and blasted the charms with his most intense fireball. They could hear the charms shatter and watched as their energies rocketed into the sky, creating a random explosion of light in the clouds.
By the time Hex was released from the coffin by the police an hour later, the Tennysons were already back on the road again. Ben and Gwen poked their heads out the back window hoping to get a good look at Hex's face when the cops arrested him while Trixie joined Max in the front, relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with this magic business any longer.
"You know, you two make a pretty impressive team," Max complimented his grandchildren.
"Made," Gwen emphasized sadly. "Now that my power's history, I'm back to being boring old Gwen Tennyson."
"Well, that's not bad thing," said Ben sincerely. "If you ask me, I think Gwen Tennyson is way cooler hero than Lucky Girl."
"Really?" asked Gwen, raising her brow in suspicion. "I thought you were the only hero."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong," said Ben joking before taking a moment to be serious. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said. Trixie had to explain it to me, but it wasn't right for me to treat you like some kind of sidekick. You do a lot of awesome things that I never could and…well, I just want you to know that…I do appreciate your help, Gwen."
"Huh, maybe we could get Trixie to write a book on manners for you," said Gwen mockingly. "But seriously, thanks. That's all I really wanted to hear…. Still, I'm gonna miss being Lucky Girl."
"Maybe you don't have to," said Ben with a mischievous smirk.
Gwen looked at her cousin strangely when he started digging through his pocket and pulled out….
"My lucky charm!" Gwen gasped, accepting the trinket when Ben handed it to her. "But how did – but I saw you – "
"I swiped it before I destroyed the rest," said Ben, feeling very proud of himself. "Grandpa was right; we do make an awesome team. There's not a bad guy in the universe that can take on Ben 10 and his partner Lucky Girl!"
Gwen had no words to say for the incredibly amazing gift that Ben had just given her, so she settled for just hugging the life out of him while squealing like a teenage fangirl. Ben yelped and tried to push her away, but Gwen was like an octopus; she just wouldn't let go. Max smiled to himself as he looked at his grandchildren through the rearview mirror and Trixie…was smacking her head repeatedly against the console.
"Why me…," Trixie moaned.
Yes, Gwen will continue to be Lucky Girl until she learns the true extent of her abilities later on in the series. I always felt that it would have been better if Gwen had kept her powers and become a more active part of the team during the fights instead of being a bystander with Max until she learns she can use magic.
Next episode: A Small Problem